In 1973, the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) purchased the business and most of the assets of the Green Bus Company Limited of Rugeley. At the end of services on Sunday 4th November 1973, the business of the Green Bus Company closed and most operations were absorbed by Midland Red into their existing network at Stafford depot from the following day, however some Green Bus operations in Uttoxeter passed to Potteries Motor Traction Company Limited (“PMT”), Stoke-on-Trent.
At the time of the takeover, the Green Bus Company had a fleet of about fifty vehicles and of these twenty-nine buses and coaches, mostly made up of Seddon, Bristol and Fords, transfered to the BMMO fleet. These vehicles were allocated fleet numbers 2149–2177 in the Midland Red fleet, but most were never operated and as such the numbers were not shown on the vehicles.
Most of the Green Bus fleet that BMMO acquired was immediately placed into storage and sold the following year without being operated but five coaches and five buses, all built on various versions of the Seddon Pennine chassis, did see service with Midland Red. These vehicles were only used by Midland Red at Tamworth (Aldergate) depot, and all initially operated in Green Bus Company livery. At least one of the buses, fleet number 2154, got repainted to standard NBC Poppry Red livery and also had new destination equipment fitted, but it’s not clear how many were thus fitted, and I suspect it was the only one.
These ten second-hand vehicles acquired from Green Bus Company were the only examples of the type ever owned by Midland Red, and all but two were withdrawn by Midland Red in September 1974, however the remaining two survived until 1978.
On Friday 3rd April 1970, the Commercial Motor magazine announced that BMMO had placed an order for one-hundred Ford R192 buses for use on rural services. The article on page 31 goes on to say that Crosville Motor Services Limited had also placed an order for one-hundred Seddon Pennine RU buses, and compares the two designs.
It is know that one of these Crosville Seddon RU buses later went on loan to Midland Red at Tamworth (Aldergate) depot, operating in green Crosville livery. It has been suggested that this was either KFM762J or KFM765J, running during the mid-1970s, but unfortunately no other information is known at this time.
If anyone is able to give more information, please email me, thanks.